When Apple recently introduced its revamped notebook line, it also introduced the world to the Mini DisplayPort. It turns out that the company is offering no-fee licenses to anyone interested in developing products that use the Mini DisplayPort specification.

    Mini DisplayPort is an Apple-designed miniature version of the VESA-approved DisplayPort, which fully supports the protocol while offering a more compact connector. Apple has used miniaturized versions of VGA and DVI on all previous MacBooks, as well as many iBooks and the 12" PowerBook G4. The first-generation MacBook Air even used a Micro-DVI connector. Mini DisplayPort carries on that tradition but has one important difference: Apple plans to use the Mini DisplayPort across its entire line of computers. Apple has already designed and shipped the 24" LED Cinema Display that uses Mini DisplayPort as its sole connection, and Apple is hoping that other display, graphics card, and computer vendors will adopt Mini DisplayPort, making it a de facto standard, unlike Mini-VGA and Mini-DVI, which were essentially Apple-only.

    DisplayPort offers several advantages over DVI and other older standards, and Mini DisplayPort adds a compact form factor, making it "particularly useful on systems where space is at a premium, such as portable computers or to support multiple connectors on reduced height add-in cards," according to Apple. The downside right now is two-fold; DisplayPort hasn't been widely adopted in either the standard or mini form, and Apple only offers limited adapters to connect a new MacBook to a VGA, DVI, or dual-link DVI display.

    Hopefully, the no-fee license for Mini DisplayPort will encourage vendors to create Mini DisplayPort-compatible products, like a Mini-DP to HDMI adapter for hooking up a MacBook to an HDTV, or an adapter that would allow the use of the 24" LED Cinema Display to a DVI graphics card.